8 best press reactions to the Hyundai NEXO
That’s quite some achievement, as the annual CES event hosts many thousands of new products all vying for visitors’ attention across the cavernous Las Vegas Convention Center. With its futuristic design, eco-friendly technology and autonomous driving potential, Hyundai’s flagship fuel cell EV clearly caught the eye.
This was reflected in the huge amount of coverage it gained from the global media. To save you sifting through the hundreds of articles, here’s the best of the press:
This was reflected in the huge amount of coverage it gained from the global media. To save you sifting through the hundreds of articles, here’s the best of the press:
When it was unveiled at last month’s Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, Hyundai Motor’s NEXO quickly became quite the sensation.
Hyundai Motorsport has confirmed its crew line-up for the new era of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with Dani Sordo and Oliver Solberg sharing the team’s third Rally1 car.
The team had already confirmed Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak as full-time drivers for the start of WRC’s hybrid regulations, but the addition of Sordo and Solberg will bring an ideal mix of experience and youth in its ninth season.
Sordo has been part of the Hyundai Motorsport squad since its debut in 2014 and has played an integral role in some of its most memorable moments. The Spaniard contributed to a famous 1-2 result in Rallye Deutschland in the first year of competition and has gone on to be a consistent performer in each season since. He has claimed two victories in Hyundai Motorsport colours, both at Rally Italia Sardegna in 2019 and 2020, and a total of 13 podium finishes to date.
1. Top Gear
With other manufacturers’ previous attempts at a fuel cell vehicle appearing somewhat unconventional, the guys at Top Gear were delighted that NEXO “is a refreshingly normal looking hydrogen car”.
It’s safe to say they rather loved Hyundai’s latest innovation: “It’s as if they brainstormed all the usual objections to fuel cell tech and then went about solving them. If this sounds like praise, that’s because it is – we’re all for someone being clever enough to come up with new ideas and brave enough to see them through.”
2. Auto Express
Travelling to Hyundai’s European headquarters in Frankfurt to take an even closer look, Auto Express appreciated NEXO’s SUV body style because “its higher profile allows more space to fit passengers and luggage. Indeed, the NEXO’s load bay looks usefully large; it’s around 800 litres, with a commendably flat floor.”
Externally, it was also impressed with the design of Hyundai’s technological flagship vehicle, noticing that “the strip LED light, running between the headlights above a complex grille, gives the NEXO a sophisticated hi-tech look”.
3. Road Show by CNET
Road Show reporter Antuan Goodwin was lucky enough to actually drive NEXO from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for CES 2018. The first thing that impressed him was its “smooth acceleration…passing power was good”, and when he reached his cruising speed of 72 mph, NEXO remained quiet.
Goodwin also revealed that what had surprised him “was the lack of compressor hum or whine that you sometimes get with fuel cell vehicles. The Hyundai prototype made no such noise – not a game changer, but worth noting.”
4. Digital Trends
Not surprisingly, given the nature of CES, NEXO won a lot of plaudits from the world’s technology media. Digital Trends gave it a Top Tech of CES 2018 award – one of only 14 products out of tens of thousands to receive one – for its long range and same level of sturdiness as a gas-powered engine, yet emitting only water vapour.
The website explained: “CES is an event about ideas, particularly when it comes to cars. A lot of concepts and pie-in-the-sky dreams for the automotive world’s future roll through, so it’s refreshing to see a vehicle like the Hyundai Nexo make an appearance.”
5. USA Today
USA Today’s tech report Marc Saltzman was also mightily impressed with NEXO, naming it as one of the 10 products from CES 2018 he would buy today. He was excited by fuel cell technology’s ability to deliver zero emissions while offering the same performance and range as petrol and diesel powertrains.
Even better, Saltzman said, was the driverless features that Hyundai had showcased: “The Nexo can do some pretty cool semi-autonomous tasks for you, like pick you up at the end of your driveway or park your car into tight spots while you watch from outside.”
6. Reviewed.com
The honours kept flowing for the NEXO as it joined an elite list of just 34 products deemed worthy of receiving Reviewed.com's CES Editor’s Choice Award. The tech website only granted these to the innovations that consumers would actually consider useful and buy.
In particular, it recognised the NEXO as a fuel cell pioneer, saying that “the debut of a new hydrogen-powered vehicle from a major automaker may help the alternative fuel grow in popularity”.
7. The Verge
The Verge was another that saw NEXO blazing a hydrogen-fuelled trail, excitedly declaring that “Nexo can drive further and charge faster than a Tesla”. As it observed, that’s thanks to the five minute time that it takes to fully refuel NEXO.
The popular tech news site also liked the look of NEXO’s autonomous driving features, such as the Lane Following Assist and Highway Driving Assist, which keep the NEXO “centered in its lane at up to 90 mph without the need to follow another vehicle”.
8. New York Daily News
NEXO’s huge appeal was summed up by the New York Daily News, which praised it as a “futuristic look at mobility” that “packs in a slew of innovations”. These include “a new blind-spot-monitoring system that displays a view of the car’s perimeter on the centre cluster” and the Remote Smart Parking Assist, which enables NEXO to autonomously park or retrieve itself from a parking space.
As the newspaper exclaimed: “Brilliant! We can’t do Starbucks mobile ordering right, yet the future has us ordering up our cars.”
Contacts
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Florian Büngener
Head of Department PR & Communications
fbuengener@hyundai-europe.com LinkedIn ProfileAdriana Cerami
Head of Section Corporate & Brand PR
acerami@hyundai-europe.comKatharina Kupper
Hyundai Newsroom Lead
kkupper@hyundai-europe.comAnja Wente
Product PR & Communications Expert
awente@hyundai-europe.comElvira Herrera
Corporate Communications Expert
eherrera@hyundai-europe.comÁngel Pino Pérez
Product Communications Professional
apinoperez@hyundai-europe.comMaria Bricio
Corporate & Brand Communications Expert
